Open AccessShe makes me brave: The emergence of intimacy in gameplay
Author(s) -
Freeman Guo Zhang
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
proceedings of the american society for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1550-8390
pISSN - 0044-7870
DOI - 10.1002/meet.2014.14505101070
Subject(s) - fantasy , psychology , interpersonal communication , dynamics (music) , social psychology , dance , video game , computer science , multimedia , visual arts , art , artificial intelligence , pedagogy
This paper investigates the complex relationship between intimacy and play, and offers an empirical analysis of how intimacy emerges in a playful digital environment (i.e., Audition ). Audition is a non‐violent, non‐fantasy dance battle Multiplayer Online Game (MOG) that has many Asian and female players, and provides a sophisticated in‐game marriage system. Based on players’ self‐reports posted on public online forums and in‐depth interview data from 35 Audition players, this study shows that Audition marriage is more than a playful game feature for many players. Instead, players experience genuine, meaningful intimate relationships there, and consider their in‐game marriage an emergent learning process to satisfy their social and emotional needs. This study contributes to understanding interpersonal dynamics forged around technological objects in digital environments, which is important for designing Intimate (Ubiquitous) Computing and the next generation of ICTs.